


When Friends Became Lovers

by thegiraffe



Category: Last Tango In Halifax
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegiraffe/pseuds/thegiraffe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A happy, fluffy, multi-chapter fic about our favourite ladies falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After another day on autopilot Caroline found herself sat wearily on the edge of her bed staring into thin air, when there was a brief knock on her bedroom door. She looked up to see William, her eldest son peering into the room. She gave him her best attempt at a smile and he came to sit next to her on the bed. They sat there in silence for a moment, then he said quietly, "Mum, are you OK?" Caroline tried to nod but just burst into tears. William wrapped his arms around her protectively. It had been two weeks since his dad had left; it turned out that he had been having an affair for a while, and had decided to go and live with this other woman. Of course both William and his younger brother were devastated, however, while Lawrence just wanted their dad to come back, William realised that not many marriages could survive such infidelity, and that it was more important that their mum was happy. Clearly that would take time though. For the last few weeks his mum had been anything but happy, she had been more like ... well, absent. She'd still gone about their daily routine, both at home and at a school, but the sparkle had gone from her eyes.

Kate McKenzie was curled up on her sofa with a steaming cup of tea in her hand and a large pile of marking on her lap. The soft sound of recorded piano music danced around the room. She begun with the A Level essays, they would take the most energy to mark. As she went through them one by one, scribbling corrections and writing comments, she was generally pleased with the standard of work. However, just one paragraph into one of them she flicked her eyes up to the name. This essay was nowhere near as good as the high quality work William Elliot usually submitted. Kate liked William. He was a kind, intelligent, well-mannered young gentleman who was one of their most likely Oxbridge candidates. It was generally assumed that he would be following his mother into an illustrious Oxford college. William's mother... Kate shook her head, not letting her mind wander to the beauty of her magnificent yet unattainable boss. Instead she opened up her laptop and typed out a quick email to William, arranging a time for them to go through this essay. It was important that she caught any problems early and it was so unusual for William to hand in sub-par assignments, and thinking about it, he had seemed less engaged in their last few lessons.

The next morning Caroline made sure to quietly thank William for his kindness the night before. She felt a little better having finally allowed herself to breakdown. William gave her another big hug and kissed her on the forehead. He was taller than her now; he was so grown up. "Don't forget that your dad is going to pick you up from school today and take you out for dinner." She reminded both her boys as they ate their breakfast. Lawrence looked really excited, he missed his dad a lot. William however, looked as little less convinced. Caroline passed him the box of cereal, patting him on the shoulder as she did. “How are you feeling for your history test Lawrence?” she asked the barely-awake teenager. Lawrence grunted, shrugging his shoulders.  
“What’s it on?” William asked. Lawrence shrugged again, finishing his last spoonful of cereal and disappearing upstairs to get his bag. Caroline shook her head after him. William had always loved school, learning new things excited and interested him; in that way he was similar to Caroline. But Lawrence was different. He went to school because he had to, and wasn’t really very passionate about any of his subjects. She picked up the biology exercise book that Lawrence had left on the table, he would forget it otherwise. 

At the beginning of first period William knocked tentatively on the door of Miss McKenzie’s classroom and she beckoned him in. He was clearly a little nervous, unused to being in trouble, especially for poor work. His essay, which Kate had decided not to mark until she'd spoken to him, sat in front of her on her desk. "How are you William" she asked kindly, as he sat down opposite her.   
"Fine thank you Miss McKenzie," he replied politely. Then, looking embarrassed, "I'm really sorry about my essay. I know it's not very good."  
"Are you struggling with this topic?" Kate asked, concerned.  
"No, not really," admitted William, "I just forgot about it. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Kate notice him surreptitiously blink away a tear. Something was up, it was obvious.  
"Is there something wrong William?" she asked softly, "It's not like you to be disorganised." William looked at her, trying to work out what to say. He liked Miss McKenzie. She was clever, kind and caring. He took a deep breath.  
"My dad left." He revealed, his voice barely a whisper, a rogue tear rolling down his cheek. He wiped it away, embarrassed. Kate felt a wave of deep sadness for him. Her parents had always been very happy, but after many years of working with teenagers she knew how difficult these situations could be.  
"Oh William," she said softly, offering him a tissue, "I'm really sorry." William nodded sadly.

What William had told her played on Kate's mind all day. Period 3 she had set a revision worksheet to her top set year 10s so she was sitting at her desk while they worked quietly. She noticed Caroline Elliot peer through the door to check that everything was alright. Their headmistress regularly went around the school during lessons to see what was going on. Kate made a split second decision and didn't even realise what she was doing until she had done it; she glanced around her class to make sure that they were all working, then opened the door to catch the attention of Caroline. "Dr Elliot," she said, "Will you possibility have a few minutes at lunchtime to see me?" Caroline smiled politely but it didn't reach her eyes.   
"One of my meetings has been cancelled so you can come to my office at 1:15."  
"Perfect, thank you." Kate smiled warmly and Caroline couldn't help but smile back much more honestly that she had before.

“Thank you Mr Warton,” said Caroline, shaking the man’s hand and opening her office door to show him out. “Kate,” she said when she saw the languages teacher waiting in the outer office, “Come in.” She gestured towards the chair opposite her desk. The wide smile on Caroline’s face had been fooling people for weeks, but Kate, sitting opposite her, saw straight through it. Caroline squirmed a little as she felt Kate looking at her so intensely, but it didn’t make her feel as uncomfortable as it might have. “How can I help you Kate?” Caroline asked. Kate paused for a second before answering, unsure of how to phrase what she was about to say.  
“I wanted to see how you were doing?” she asked, a little nervously, it was her boss after all that she was speaking to. Caroline looked taken aback and a little confused.   
“Why,” she asked, her voice quieter than before, her smile gone. Kate paused again.  
“William came to see me,” she explained, “He told me what was going on at home. Not that I hadn’t heard rumours. I mean...people have mentioned it...in passing... It’s not like people are gossiping about you,” she babbled, not making eye contact with the other woman.  
“William talked to you?” Caroline looked upset.  
“He did,” replied Kate, “He had a bit of trouble with an essay so I asked to talk to him and he explained why he has been a bit distracted of late.” Caroline brought her hands up to cover her face, breathing in deeply, her eyes squeezed shut. Silence filled the large office.  
“I thought he was coping,” said Caroline, barely above a whisper. Kate saw a giant crack in Caroline’s composure. “Obviously I knew he was upset, but I thought her was doing alright. He sat with me last night when I got upset. He was so wonderful. I didn’t know that he was struggling.” Tears started to fall down Caroline’s cheeks and her voice started to shake. “I’m a terrible mother.”   
“No you’re not.” Kate interrupted. “You’re not,” she repeated adamantly. Caroline looked at her and wiped the tears from her face. “You’re having a hard time. That’s ok, it’s understandable. I didn’t come here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing to help your sons. I came here to ask if you are ok, if you need someone to talk to?” Caroline looked at her in a new way. People didn’t generally treat her like this. People assumed she was invincible, that she didn’t need help from anyone. And that was the image she liked to project. It was important for a head teacher to be perceived in that way. But it had meant that she didn’t really have any friends. There wasn’t anyone that she could talk to. “We could go for a drink or something,” suggested Kate. Caroline would normally dismiss an offer like this from a colleague, but there was something about Kate that made Caroline feel like she could trust her.   
“I’d like that,” expressed Caroline, timidly. “Are you free tonight? The boys are going for dinner with John.”  
“Tonight would be wonderful,” Kate smiled, “We could go for dinner too if you’d like?” Caroline nodded. “I’ll pick you up at 7?” Kate suggested. She wrote her mobile number on the notepad on Caroline’s desk. “I’m looking forward to it.”

After a long governors meeting, Caroline got home to her empty house. She sighed heavily into the silence; it had been a long day. She made herself a cup of tea and sat drinking it at the kitchen counter, feeling at a loose end without the boys to organise. She glanced at the clock, it was 5:30, Kate would be here in an hour and a half. Caroline smiled as she thought of the kindness that the younger woman had shown her. She would make an effort to really relax and enjoy this evening. Just then, her mum knocked on the kitchen window, waving to be let in the back door. “Hello love,” said Celia, giving her daughter a tight hug.   
“The kettle’s just boiled if you want a drink,” Caroline said, pulling out of the hug and heading back into the kitchen. They talked for a little while, but both of their lives were rather uneventful, so there wasn’t a huge amount to say.  
“You look tired love,” said Celia, seeing the exhaustion in Caroline’s eyes. “You need to relax more.” Caroline sighed.  
“I’m going out for dinner tonight with a...” she paused. Colleague? Co-worker? Friend? “friend,” she settled on. Celia smiled, glad to hear that her daughter was starting to get her life back. The breakup had been so hard on Caroline. Celia knew just how it felt to discover that your husband was messing around behind your back.   
“Have a wonderful evening,” Celia said, kissing her daughter on the cheek before going back to her own flat. Caroline glanced at the clock again. 6:15. Forty-five minutes until Kate arrived.

Kate sat on her bed staring into her open wardrobe. What does one wear for this kind of occasion? It wasn’t going to be a date - she had to keep telling herself that, but it was dinner with her boss, she had to look smart. Smart but not sexy. Well, maybe just a little bit sexy. She did like Caroline after all. Kate had chosen a restaurant - nice but not too romantic - and had called ahead to make a reservation. She had butterflies in her stomach. “No Kate,” she said to herself, “No. You are not allowed to think about her like that.” But she couldn’t help it. Checking her watch, she realised that she needed to leave soon. She picked out a long green wrap dress off its hanger and slid into it. She liked the way it fit, showing off a little bit of cleavage, but not too much. Her black heels would have looked fantastic with it, but she decided that she’d probably fall over and make a fool of herself so she went with the patent black pumps. She put on more makeup than she usually did, it had been a while since she had been anywhere nice enough to warrant making this much effort. Finally she slipped on her jacket, grabbed her handbag and went to the car. Trying in vain to quell the butterflies in her stomach.

When Caroline heard the doorbell her heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath, checked her appearance in the full length mirror in her room, then descended the stairs slowly, trying not to be nervous. Why was she even nervous? She was just going for dinner with a friend. When she opened the door her nerves vanished instantly when she saw the smiling woman waiting on the doorstep. “Hi there,” said Kate her smile warm and genuine, “You look wonderful.” Caroline blushed. Kate mentally kicked herself for being that flirtatious; that’s not what this evening was supposed to be about. Caroline followed her to the car and Kate opened the door for her. Caroline giggled like a teenager.

Over time, Thursday nights were established as John’s night with the boys, and Caroline’s night with Kate. They would go out for dinner and repeatedly prove the old saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun’. They sat in the restaurants for hours, talking and laughing. It was so natural and uncomplicated. They shared stories of their lives, embarrassing themselves by telling the tales that they didn’t tell most people. Their conversations flowed easily from light-hearted anecdotes, to in-depth discussions of politics or global issues. After one night when Caroline was too exhausted to go out, they swapped the restaurants for evenings in one or the other’s front room, with a home cooked meal and often a DVD. Soon it stopped being just a Thursday evening thing. They would go for coffee at the weekends if Lawrence was playing rugby, and even, on the rare occasions that Caroline ate in the staff dining room rather than her office, they’d have lunch together at school. Not long had passed until they were undeniably best friends; but the closer they got, the harder Kate fell. Maybe friends wasn’t enough.


	2. Chapter 2

“So who is she then?” Eve asked her older sister.  
“What do you mean? Who is who?” Kate asked, but the redness that crept into her cheeks gave her away.  
“The girl you’re texting.”   
“Just a friend,” insisted Kate. Eve raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” Kate asked, blushing, knowing that her sister could read her better than anyone else.  
“By the look on your face you are texting her an apology so I’m guessing that you were supposed to have dinner with her tonight instead of me.” Eve’s detective skills had always got on Kate’s nerves. “If it was a one off thing then you would have just rearranged it to another night and everything would be fine, but the fact that you’re apologising means that it is probably a standing date.” Kate sighed, her sister was so annoying.  
“She’s just a friend.” Kate reiterated.   
“If you could see your face right now you’d know that that’s not true.” Eve said, grinning. “Plus, I know you will have already apologised, but you’re still apologising again.” Kate sighed again.  
“It’s complicated,” she admitted. Eve looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate. “She’s my boss. And her ex is still around.” Kate explained, a little gloomily. “Plus she’s straight.” Eve raised her eyebrows again.  
“Are you sure?” she asked. Kate didn’t reply. “Because if you really thought that she was completely straight, that would have been the first problem you’d mention.” Kate didn’t know what to say. Luckily the waitress arrived with the meals so she had a little bit of time to think. “You really like her don’t you.” Eve said softly. Kate nodded, despondently. “You should tell her,” suggested Eve, “It’s not fair on yourself to just mope around hoping.” Kate sighed once more. Her sister had a point.

When Caroline first checked her phone on Saturday morning there was already a text from Kate. [Coffee this morning? There’s something we need to talk about. K] Caroline was a little confused. The phrasing of the message was weird; too formal. What did Kate want to talk about? [Is everything ok? I’ll come by at 10:30?] While she was waiting for a reply she knocked on Lawrence’s door to make sure that he was up and getting ready for his rugby game, a friendly against the year 10 B-team. Her phone buzzed. [Ok. Speak to you in a bit.] Caroline didn’t have time to ponder this message because Lawrence emerged from his room rushing around trying to find his rugby kit. “Your shorts are on the drying rack,” she told him, fetching his boots from the airing cupboard where they had been drying after Wednesday’s particularly muddy training session. Once Lawrence had eaten his breakfast and found the rest of his kit, Caroline wrote a note for William saying that she’d be back after Lawrence’ training, then set off to drop Lawrence at the sports field.

Kate sat nervously on her sofa, picking with her fingernails, looking out of the window, waiting for Caroline to arrive. She’d spent the whole time since she’d seen her sister on Thursday planning what she was going to say to Caroline. Despite all the thought she’d put into it, she still had no idea what might come out of her mouth. The moment she saw Caroline climb out of her car, Kate’s mind went blank, all she could think of was how beautiful she looked; her stunning blonde hair hanging around her shoulders. Kate opened the front door for her and showed her into the kitchen, putting the kettle on, trying to keep her cool. “Are you ok?” Caroline asked, concerned by Kate’s quietness. Kate nodded but didn’t say anything. There was an awkward silence until the kettle boiled. Caroline watched Kate make the tea, getting increasingly worried by her mood. She opened her mouth to say something but Kate spoke first.  
“I really like being friends with you,” she said. Her nerves were evident by the speed at which she spoke. Something about the situation make Caroline’s stomach flutter. “And I don’t want that to change.” Kate continued. “But I’ve got to be honest with you.” She took a deep breath, not looking at Caroline. “I like you.” It came out much more quickly and loudly than she had expected. Part of her was desperate to look up at Caroline’s face to see her reaction, but she couldn’t. 

It seemed that Caroline’s subconscious had known what Kate was going say before she even said it because she wasn’t surprised. Her heart was beating overtime and her thoughts were running wild. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place; all the feelings she’d had over the last couple of months immediately made sense. She looked over at Kate who whole body was tensed up in nerves. Caroline couldn’t bear to see her so upset and worried. She reached over and covered Kate’s hand with her own. This gave Kate the confidence to look up at her and attempt to gauge her reaction. The huge smile on Caroline’s face sent a flutter to her heart and confusion to her head. Caroline stepped closer to her and and gently placed her other hand on Kate’s cheek. This caused the tears that had been building up in Kate’s eyes to start falling. Caroline wiped them away with her thumb then, because she didn’t know what to say, she leaned in and kissed her. For a split second Kate didn’t realise what was happening, but then she relaxed into the kiss and the whole world melted away. She wrapped her arms around Caroline’s waist, pulling her close, and kissed her again. She could feel the smile on Caroline’s face.

“I’ve known since I was nineteen,” said Caroline a few minutes later when they were sat on Kate’s sofa.  
“Known what?” asked Kate, not following the conversation. Caroline breathed in deeply.  
“That I’m a lesbian,” she said simply. “Wow, it’s a long time since I’ve said that.” Kate grabbed her hand to reassure her.  
“This wasn’t how I was expecting you to react,” admitted Kate. Smiling and squeezing Caroline’s hand. “I’m very glad though,” she clarified. She leaned over and gave Caroline a peck on the cheek. Caroline blushed, which made Kate’s heart skip a beat. “You’re very beautiful,” said Kate, bravely, which only made Caroline’s cheeks redder. Caroline was about to say something when a buzz from her phone rudely interrupted her.  
“It’s Lawrence,” she said, apologetically. “He wants picking up from rugby. I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.” She rubbed the back of Kate’s hand with her thumb.  
“That’s ok. I’ll see you soon.” Kate said. They shared another breath-taking kiss before Kate showed Caroline out. “I’ll call you later?” she suggested.   
“Yes please,” grinned Caroline, getting into her car.

After several long hours spent working on one of his history essays, William went downstairs for his mid-afternoon break. Lawrence was in the front room playing fifa on the x-box. William tried to chat to him, but got nothing more than a grunt in response. Instead, William went to the kitchen to get a drink. He heard an unexpected noise coming from the sofa in the dining area. His mum was sitting there, on the phone to someone, giggling. He’d heard his mum laugh before of course, but, even before the divorce and everything he’d never heard her giggle like this. It was the sweet, light-hearted laughter he mainly associated with the teenage girls at school gossiping to their friends or chatting to boys that they liked. He watched his mum for a moment. Her smile was bright and her eyes were sparkling. It was a very long time since he had seen her this happy. She seemed to have noticed his presence in the kitchen. She turned around and blushed. “I’ve got to go,” she said into the phone. “...Yes...And you...Yep...’Bye.” She hung up the phone. “How’s the essay going?” she asked, changing the subject. William considered asking her who was on the phone, but thought better of it. His mum’s smile didn’t disappear though.


	3. Chapter 3

“What takeaway do you want?” Caroline asked her sons who were sitting in the front room relaxing after a long day of school.  
“Takeaway? Seriously?!” exclaimed Lawrence, pausing his x-box in excitement; takeaways were extremely rare in the Elliot house.  
“Yes,” said Caroline, “I’m going out so won’t have time to cook.”  
“Pizza!” requested Lawrence immediately. William put his book down on his lap.   
“Fine by me,” he said. “Where are you going mum?” Caroline hesitated, unsure of what to say.  
“Just for dinner with a friend,” she said, picking up her iPad to order the boys their meal. “What do you want?”  
“Meat feast!” said Lawrence without looking over because he was back playing his game. William rolled his eyes at his brother.  
“Can I have BBQ chicken please mum,” he said politely. Caroline put in the order then left the boys to their relaxation and went to get ready for her date.

Caroline’s stomach started doing weird summersaults as she stood in front of her open wardrobe trying to work out what to wear. She never usually had trouble choosing an outfit for work or even for social events, but a date... it had been a very long time since she’d had one of those. She tried on a couple of dresses, discarding each of them onto the bed with a sigh; she tried a skirt-suit and a trouser-suit, rejecting each of them too. Then the doorbell ring and her heart stopped. Was Kate here already? “Mum,” called William from downstairs, “Please can you pay for the pizza?” Her heart settled.  
“My purse is in my handbag,” she called down, pulling another jacket out of the wardrobe. She tried the jacket on over a strappy vest and decided that the jacket was good - she just needed a top and some trousers, or maybe a dress, to go with it. Her wardrobe was starting to look worryingly empty so she rifled through the pile on her bed. She really should have gone shopping for a new outfit. She tried on two of the dresses again, analysing how flattering they were and how much cleavage they showed. Eventually she decided on the dark green one to go with her navy jacket; now it was time to fuss over her makeup and hair. She straightened her hair and pinned it up elegantly, then carefully applied her eye makeup and lipstick. Meanwhile the butterflies in her stomach were getting increasingly restless and distracting. 

Just as she was finally happy with her outfit, the doorbell rang again and her nerves got stuck in her throat. She rushed down the stairs, hoping that neither of the boys would answer the door before her; they didn’t. When she saw Kate standing on the doorstep looking utterly beautiful Caroline was almost speechless; she hoped that the gigantic smile on her face said everything her heart wanted to say. “You look... incredible,” she managed. Then she glanced back into the house. “Give me one moment.” She rushed into the living room to say goodbye to the boys. They were sitting in almost exactly the same positions as earlier - William with his book and Lawrence on the x-box - just now they had half-eaten pizzas in front of them. “I’m off out,” she said.  
“Wow, mum,” said William, “You look beautiful.” Caroline couldn’t help but smile.   
“Thank you. Now make sure you get your homework done - that means you Lawrence! And don’t go to bed too late. I’ll be back before midnight.”   
“We’ll be fine mum,” said William, “Have a wonderful night.”  
“I love you,” said Caroline as she left.

Despite the fact that Caroline felt more comfortable with Kate than she could remember feeling with anyone else, she still kept getting nervous squirms in her stomach when she remembered that this was a date. Just that word - ‘date’ - it felt weird. But then Kate would smile at her or reach out and touch her hand and the nerves would be replaced by flutters of excitement. The restaurant that Kate had chosen was very nice and romantic. Partway through the evening a live jazz band appeared and started to play. Caroline noticed Kate tapping her finger away to the lively tunes and it made her smile. Kate noticed Caroline noticing and looked at her like she was about to say something but hesitated. “What is it?” Caroline asked.  
“Do you dance?” Kate asked, causing Caroline to burst into surprised laughter. “I’ll take that as a no,” said Kate, sounding a little disappointed.  
“Do you?” asked Caroline, intrigued. Kate shook her head.  
“But I’d like to try.” Kate said hesitantly. Caroline suddenly realised what she was actually saying.  
“Are you asking me to go to a dance class with you?” asked Caroline. Kate nodded again; Caroline’s face was unreadable.  
“Ok,” said Caroline, surprising Kate.  
“Really?”   
“I can’t promise that I’ll be any good!” she grinned, “But I’ll give it a go if it’ll make you happy.” Kate’s smile covered her whole face; she was such a lucky woman.

That Thursday night - their first as an actual couple - while the boys were with John, instead of their established dinner out of DVD night in they went dancing. As they arrived at the centre, Caroline was more nervous than she wanted to let on. Kate had chosen a class in neighbouring Knaresborough so that they didn’t have to worry about bumping into parents from school or other people that they knew. Despite this, Kate was still a little unsure about how much PDA Caroline would be willing to show since their relationship wasn’t in the slightest bit public yet. They weren’t the only same sex couple in the class, but Kate guessed that the other giggling pair of women were just best friends whose husbands didn’t want to go dancing with them. Kate volunteered to be the lead, she had more of a rhythmic mind than her girlfriend. She could feel the uneasy tension in Caroline’s body as the instructor guided them through the moves for the first dance. “Look at me,” Kate whispered because Caroline was eyes were to the right as she tried to remember the pattern that her feet were supposed to be making - she didn’t want to make a mistake. She flicked her eyes over to Kate’s and instantly relaxed into her hold. Both women smiled. “Ouch!” giggled Kate as Caroline stepped on her toe.   
“Oops,” laughed Caroline, “Sorry!” Kate gave her an appreciative peck on the cheek.  
“Practice makes perfect,” grinned Kate carrying on with the dance. 

By the end of the class Caroline and Kate could waltz to the whole song that the instructor had selected. “I’m proud of us,” said Caroline, sneaking a discrete kiss as they collected their bags from the side of the dance hall. Over dinner at a little French restaurant they gossiped about the other couples at the lesson. Some had been really nice, others had clearly been trying too hard and looked a little absurd.   
“Thank you so much for tonight,” said Kate, holding Caroline’s hand across the table, “I really enjoyed it.”  
“Me too,” said Caroline, “It was a lot more fun than I expected!” Kate laughed; she knew that Caroline had been apprehensive about the class.   
“You did brilliantly,” Kate reassured her.  
“Well,” said Caroline, “As you said earlier, practice makes perfect.” She grinned.  
“Does that mean we can come back?” asked Kate, pleased. Caroline nodded.  
“But you can’t let anyone know that you’ve turned me into a dancer,” she joked.

As the students started to swarm out of school on Friday afternoon, Caroline checked her online diary that her secretary Beverly kept up to date. Her 3:45pm slot read ‘Meeting: Kate McKenzie. Topic: Unknown. Location: Office’ Caroline smiled. Trust Kate to book an appointment to see her. This weekend Kate was going down to London to see her mother who was visiting from the States and Caroline already knew she was going to miss her. Just a week after they’d officially started dating, she couldn’t imagine life without her. She didn’t get very much paperwork done in the half an hour before Kate arrived, she was too distracted. At 3:45 she went to her office door and peered through. “Is everything ok?” Beverly asked; her boss usually just waited for Beverly to show people in.  
“Fine thank you Beverly,” said Caroline, “You can head home for the day if you’d like. I’ve only got Kate and Hamish to see this afternoon.”   
“Are you sure?” Beverly asked. “I can stay.” Just then Kate walked through the door into the outer office. Caroline’s face lit up.   
“I’ll be fine Beverly, have a wonderful weekend,” she said, pushing her door open with her foot and showing Kate in.

As soon as the door closed behind them Caroline wrapped her arms around Kate’s waist and pulled her into a deep, needy kiss. They rested their foreheads against each other, breathing in unison. “I’m going to miss you this weekend,” Kate said quietly, stroking her hand up and down Caroline’s back.   
“Me too,” replied Caroline sadly. Kate couldn’t help but kiss the perfect pout on her face which made them both smile. “You have to think of me stuck with a huge pile of paperwork while you’re off having fun with your mum.”   
“I’ll call you every night.” Kate promised, kissing her again, “but I have to go now,” she said sadly, “My train leaves in twenty minutes.” They shared another deep kiss.  
“I love you.” Caroline said quietly but without hesitation. Looking deep into her eyes Kate could see how much it meant for Caroline to say that, she’d been hurt before and now she was putting herself in a vulnerable situation.   
“I love you too,” said Kate, confirming the sentiment with a kiss. She could feel a damp tear on her face but she couldn’t tell if it was her own or Caroline’s.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Comments make me smile (hint hint)

The wait to be able to spend time with Caroline again was excruciating for Kate. Every time she saw her in the corridor at school she had to restrain herself from grabbing her by the lapels of her jacket and kissing her. She'd spent the whole of Monday's staff meeting daydreaming and staring at this beautiful woman. Tuesday lunchtime Kate was sitting in the staffroom marking when her mobile phone buzzed. [Are you free tonight? L has rugby and W is at a friends. I have to be home for dinner but could I come over after school? C x] Kate couldn't help but smile, and blush slightly as she replied, [Of course! See you at 4? X]  
"What, or should I say 'who', are you smiling at?" Rachel, one of the other language teachers, asked greedily, noticing her friend's expression.  
"No one," said Kate, blushing more.  
"Oh my gosh, stop lying!" teased Rachel who loved a bit of gossip. Kate pretended to zip her mouth shut and went back to her marking but her smile didn't disappear. Rachel chose not to push it, but instead decided to keep her eyes peeled for more hints about Kate's secret new romance.

Caroline showed up at Kate's house at five past 4 with a bouquet of bright spring flowers and a huge smile on her face. When Kate opened the door she immediately pulled the headmistress into a deep desperate kiss. "Gosh I've missed you," said Caroline under her breath, leaning in for another kiss.  
"These are beautiful," said Kate as Caroline handed her the flowers once their kiss had ended. "Come on through." She allowed Caroline to follow her into the kitchen.

As Kate was standing by the sink filling up a vase for the flowers, she was surprised by Caroline coming up behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist. Kate sighed with contentment .  
"Sorry but the last few days have been torture. Talking on the phone just isn't enough." Caroline whispered in her ear. "Every time I saw you I wanted to kiss you." Kate turned off the tap, spun around and met Caroline's lips with intense passion.  
"Let me sort out these flowers first," Kate said, "And then I'm all yours." Caroline pouted cheekily but released Kate from her embrace and went to sit on the sofa in the front room.

A few moments later Kate joined her, curling up beside her, enjoying the powerful intimacy. They talked about what Kate had done in London and what Caroline had done over the weekend, but they already knew most of it because they had been speaking every night. "Oh my gosh, tell me about your mum," said Kate, remembering something that Caroline had mentioned on the phone on Sunday evening. "Is she really getting married?" Caroline sighed.  
"It won't happen," she said, pessimistically.  
"Why not?"  
"They don't know each other," said Caroline, exasperated. "They almost went on a date 60 years ago, then all of a sudden, after one afternoon, they're engaged. She's ridiculous." She shook her head.  
"Don't you think it's sweet?" Kate asked, her hand playing with Caroline's. Caroline rolled her eyes. Kate noticed this and thought it was adorable. She kissed her again, making her smile. "So you're not a romantic?" asked Kate, pouting.  
"Only with you," said Caroline cheesily, kissing Kate's pout, turning it into a smile. But then Caroline suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Well, I want to be romantic," she said quietly, "but I'm not really sure I know how." Kate chuckled.  
"Sweetheart you are incredibly romantic just the way you are," she said, caressing Caroline's face with her hand. "You turned up to my house with flowers for heaven's sake." That made Caroline giggle and Kate's heart fluttered at the sound.

Back home a while later, Caroline was half way through preparing dinner when John turned up. Just the sound of his voice made her tense up with anger. She tried to pretend that he wasn't there. Lawrence rushed down the stairs, "Hi popsicle!" he said, clearly excited to see his dad.  
"Hi, Lawrence," John said, "Give me a moment to chat to your mum, then I'll come and play Xbox with you." Caroline rolled her eyes; what was he going to witter on about now? Lawrence scuttled back to the living room where William was watching TV. John sat down on one of the dining room chairs, clearly preparing for a serious conversation. Caroline really couldn't be bothered; she was at her wit's end with him, but she dropped herself onto the sofa anyway. "I heard about your mum," he said. "Getting engaged!" he added when Caroline looked blank.  
"Oh yeah," she said, declining to comment further. She continued with chopping the vegetables.  
"It's fantastic," grinned John, "It's so...life affirming." Caroline sighed. When Kate had been excited about it it had been cute, but it just made John seem more ridiculous. "So I was thinking," he said, drawing out the last word. 'Oh dear' thought Caroline, 'Where is this going?' "I think we should try again with us." Caroline closed her eyes and rolled her head back. John was so predictable. "So," he pestered, "What do you think?"  
"We can be civil can't we," she sighed, "for the boys." John's smile disappeared.  
"No, I meant..." he stuttered. Caroline interrupted him.  
"I know what you meant." She took a deep breath to steady her nerves "I'm seeing someone." she revealed. John's jaw dropped.  
"What?...what?... You are?" Caroline nodded, smiling slightly. "Who?" John demanded.  
"It doesn't matter who," she said. Not wanting to get into an argument she stood up and went back to cooking.  
"Who?" John asked again, raising his voice. Caroline ignored him. "Who is it?" he yelled.  
"No one," replied Caroline, fed up.  
"Is it someone I know?" John shouted angrily.  
"I couldn't possibly comment," Caroline said sarcastically.  
"What's going on?" William asked from the doorway, having heard the commotion. Caroline instantly felt awful; she hadn't realised that the boys could hear their shouting. She made the instantaneous decision that if she stayed in the room she would snap so she turned off the stove and escaped to the safety of her bedroom. She felt guilty leaving William alone with a very angry John, but she knew that John's anger way aimed at her and not his son.

Twenty minutes or so later, William went to check on his mother. From outside her room he could hear her crying so he knocked gently and went straight in. He saw her quickly wipe the tears from her cheek. "William's here. I'll talk to you later," she said. William noticed that she was on the phone. He gestured to the door asking if he should leave, but his mum shook her head and patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Yeah, you too," she said into the phone before hanging up and dropping it onto the bed. "Are you alright?" she asked her son, putting her arm around him.  
"I came to ask you that," he said, leaning into her. She didn't answer.  
"Has your dad calmed down?" William nodded.  
"He's just finishing cooking," he said. "He says dinner will be ready soon if you want." Caroline sighed. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Caroline didn't say anything but William could tell that her eyes were welling up again. He squeezed her side. "Are you seeing someone?" William asked, a little tentatively. Caroline looked a little taken aback.  
"I...urm... How would you feel about it if I was?" She didn't look him straight in the eye.  
"Fine," he answered, grabbing her hand so that she looked at him. "If it's someone who deserves you." Caroline thought for a moment.  
"Ok," she admitted, "well then yes I am. Seeing someone." William saw a half smile flicker briefly across her face. He thought back a couple of days to when he had seen his mother walking around the field, laughing.  
"Is it Kate McKenzie?" he asked, naming the woman who his mum had been spending time with.  
"What..." Caroline stuttered, surprised. "What makes you think that?"  
"Is it?" William asked softly; smiling in an attempt to reassure his mother. As soon as he asked it, he knew that he was right, just by the look on his mum's face.  
"Ok, well...if it...what if...it was...How would..." she mumbled.  
"She's nice. I like her," said William, smiling. "She's clever. She's interesting. She's kind." He watched a smile appear on his mother's face as he said that. She nodded.  
"How did you know?" she asked, shyly.  
"I saw you," he said, "walking round the field together. Just the way you looked at each other." Caroline blushed a little. "No one else saw," he added to reassure her.  
"I won't embarrass you." Caroline said, misunderstanding what William had said. He shook his head.  
"I know." He held her hand again. "I don't care. I just want you to be happy." This compassion brought another tear to her eye.  
"Does Lawrence know?" she asked apprehensively. William shook his head which made Caroline feel a lot better. That gave her some control about how this information spread.  
"DINNER!" John called. Caroline sighed again.  
"Are you coming?" William asked, "You don't have to. But I made Dad promise that he won't make a fuss." Caroline thought for a moment.  
"I'll grab something later," she said, sad to be admitting defeat.

The next morning when Caroline got up John was already sitting at the kitchen table. "Who is it?" he asked, sounding accusatory. Caroline ignored him. It was too early in the morning for this argument. "Tell me his name!" Caroline whipped around to face him.  
"It's not a he," she said, fed up of the repetitive nagging. John's jaw dropped and he started to stutter. Before he could say anything Caroline carried on, already starting to feel liberated. "I'd appreciate your discretion for the time being. William already knows and is very happy for us, but I need to tell Lawrence and I need to tell my mother, and until I've done that I'd ask you to keep this to yourself." There were nervous, excited butterflies in her stomach; this felt amazing. "Of course I'm sure that as a liberal minded intellectual you won't feel the need to poke fun, but if you do I'd appreciate that you did it right to my face and not in front of the boys." John stood there open-mouthed, completely stunned. "Now I've got to get ready for work and the boys ready for school." She left her gobsmacked ex-husband standing there while she went to wake the boys up.

Kate's phone buzzed before she'd even left the house for work. A message from Caroline: [Can you come to my office 1st period? Xxx]. [Sure. Everything ok? Xxx] Kate replied. [Yep ;) xxx] The winkey face made Kate blush. The look Caroline gave her when they were walking into the chapel for assembly made Kate's stomach do a summersault. She spent the assembly absentmindedly daydreaming about her, she couldn't decide whether being summoned to Caroline's office was a good thing or not. What did she want to talk about? After assembly, as she walked down the corridor to Caroline's office she heard Beverly offer Caroline some tea. Caroline answered Beverly but was looking directly at Kate, her eyes sparkling. "What is it?" Kate asked as Caroline closed the office door behind them. Caroline leant against the door for a few moments, took a deep breath, then marched across the room, took Kate's face in her hands, and kissed her passionately. They were so wrapped up in the kiss that they fell back into the door. Kate was surprised (very pleasantly) when Caroline's hand franticly untucked her shirt and made its way up her stomach and cupped her breast. It made Kate moan softly. All of a sudden though, Caroline was gone; she'd taken a few steps back.  
"I told John," she said, breathing heavily.  
"About us?" asked Kate.  
"It felt incredible!" Caroline beamed. "I told William too." Kate didn't know what to say, she was over the moon.  
"Urm...would...would you like to come over tonight?" Kate asked. Caroline nodded, biting her lip; driving Kate crazy. "I'll be home at 4." Caroline nodded again, then she leaned in and whispered something into Kate's ear, causing Kate to blush bright red.  
"Won't that be...technically difficult," breathed Kate.  
"I'm sure we can work something out," Caroline said seductively. "You should probably tuck that in," she gestured at Kate's shirt, "Beverly will be in in a moment with the tea."

"Hi," said Caroline coyly when Kate opened her front door at just after 4pm.  
"Hi," Kate said. The smile on her face as she stood back to let Caroline in, made the headmistress' heart flutter. Kate closed the door and turned round, the two women's' faces just inches away from each other. Suddenly the enormity of the situation dawned on them. They Caroline took a deep breath, smiling; Kate bit her lip then flicked her eyes down to Caroline's mouth. They were just leaning in when they were rudely interrupted by Caroline's phone. Caroline frantically searched for the source of the ringing. Kate watched her in admiration, enjoying the chance to appreciate her girlfriend freely. She reached out to play with Caroline's coat teasingly, Caroline giggled at her, pushing her hand away. "Who is it?" Kate mouthed, reaching for Caroline's shirt.  
"Gillian," said Caroline, twisting her hand around Kate's in an attempt to stop Kate's fingers from distracting her.  
"What does she want?" Kate pouted cutely. Caroline held one finger up to get her to be quiet. She put the phone on her chest.  
"She wants to know what size knickers my mother wears." A smirk appeared on Caroline's face as she said this. Kate didn't know how to react for a moment, then she burst into laughter which set Caroline off too. Kate's giggles got worse as she watched Caroline try and keep calm enough to finish her phone call. When she hung up the phone Caroline finally allowed herself to laugh. As she did she wrapped her arms around Kate, pulling her close. She could feel the laugher rolling through her girlfriend's body. Kate had never looked more beautiful; Caroline couldn't help but kiss her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post another update. Exams and work kind of took over my life. Things are still really busy for about another month, so bare with me. Anyway, here is chapter 5. It's quite close to canon but with a few of my own changes.
> 
> Obviously I don't own Last Tango in Halifax or any of the characters etc...
> 
> Reviews fuel my imagination (hint hint) Enjoy! :)

“Happy Birthday!” said Gillian excitedly, as her step-sister-to-be walked into the coffee shop.  
“Happy Birthday to you too!” said Caroline, giving Gillian a hug.  
“I still can’t get over the coincidence,” Gillian laughed as they sat down at a table and ordered a hot drink. “It’s spooky.” Caroline nodded in agreement. “So what are you doing to celebrate?” Gillian asked.  
“Just dinner tonight. With the boys and my...friend.” Caroline replied, stumbling over the last word. Gillian raised an an eyebrow.  
“Is that the same friend who you were giggling with when I called you the other day?” she asked. Caroline blushed which was enough of an answer for Gillian. “So you’re seeing someone?” she asked. Caroline nodded. “Tell me about him then.” Caroline paused for a moment.  
“She,” she emphasised, “is called Kate.” Gillian was surprised, but not too surprised.   
“Wow,” she said, not completely sure how to react. “I’m really happy for you,” she said. Caroline smiled, looking relieved. “What does everyone else think about this? Your boys, John, your mum?” Caroline took a deep breath.  
“William has been wonderful,” she smiled, “John hasn’t really said much. He was pretty surprised though.” ‘Understandably’ thought Gillian. “I haven’t told Lawrence or mum yet, or anyone at work.”  
“You know her from work?” Gillian asked.  
“Yes, she’s one of the modern languages teachers.”   
“Will that be complicated?” Gillian didn’t quite know how Caroline was viewed at work. Caroline shrugged.  
“I hope not, but it could be,” she said, “When the students find out they’ll gossip like nothing else though.”  
“Well I’m really happy for you.” Gillian said honestly.  
“Thanks,” said Caroline, “But you won’t tell your dad will you? Not until I’ve told my mum.” Gillian nodded.   
“Of course not.”

While William was helping set the table he noticed that his mum was a bit jumpy. “Are you ok?” he asked her quietly. She smiled and nodded.   
“Just a little nervous,” she admitted, “I really want tonight to go well.  
“It will,” he told her, “Just enjoy yourself - it’s your birthday!” She nodded again; her son was so wise. “What time is Ms McKenzie getting here?”  
“You can call her Kate,” said Caroline, passing him some napkins to put on the table, “She’ll be here in about...oh...twenty minutes. But dinner won’t be ready for another hour.” William could hear her panic starting to rise.  
“It will be fine,” he said, squeezing her hand to comfort her.  “Do you need any more help?” Caroline glanced around the kitchen. “Could you go and check that your brother has smartened up a little, then come down and make the salad.”

Caroline’s stomach flipped when she heard the doorbell and she rushed to answer it. Kate presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne, then William took her coat. He saw the way that the two women looked at each other and smiled; it was so great to see his mother so happy. He suggested a game of scrabble while mum was cooking, then went upstairs to fetch Lawrence, letting his mum and Kate have a little time to themselves.   
“Happy Birthday,” Kate said quietly, leaning in to kiss her girlfriend. It was a chaste kiss, but Caroline pulled her in for a deeper one, savouring the moment.   
“Are you going to stay tonight?” she asked hopefully. Kate nodded, smiling and biting her lip. Caroline flicked her eyes towards the stairs to check that the boys weren’t standing there, then pulled Kate close to her, kissing her forehead, her nose, and then her lips.

From back in the kitchen Caroline could hear laughter coming from the scrabble game in the front room. She stirred the sauce then turned the heat down, checked the timer and then went to see how the game was going. “It seems like there’s a lot of frivolity going on in here!” she said as she walked in and saw the laughter on their faces.   
“Mum, tell William that I can have ‘retweet’,” begged Lawrence.   
“Ooh I don’t know,” said Caroline, Kate giggled which melted her heart, “I think you should let him have it William,” William sighed but conceded.   
“I’m a lot worse at this game than I remember,” Kate said, giggling.   
“She keeps trying to write words in different languages,” said Lawrence. Caroline laughed, glad that they seemed to be having a good time. She peeked over Kate’s shoulder to read her tray of letters. She reached over and rearranged them into a word, whispering into Kate’s ear, “off the ‘r’ in ‘forest’.”.  
“You can’t help her!” whined Lawrence indignantly. Caroline glanced at the score sheet next to William.  
“I think she needs it!” teased Caroline as she saw Kate’s pitiful score.  
“I keep seeing French or Italian words!” she pouted. Caroline desperately wanted to kiss her, but managed to stop herself. The oven timer started bleeping at her from the kitchen  
“We might have to put a pause on scrabble in a moment because I think dinner’s ready,” she apologised. Lawrence leapt up excitedly.

Caroline watched carefully as Kate took her first bite of the meal, the delight that swept across her face made Caroline squirm with happiness. “This is incredible Caroline,” said Kate in admiration. Caroline reached out her foot to play with Kate’s under the table. Kate bit her lip to stop herself from smiling too inappropriately which just made Caroline’s stomach flutter even more. “So Kate, have you decided on a program for our choir concert this term?” William asked, smiling because he’d noticed the adorning loves that his mum and Kate had been giving each other. Kate unlocked her eyes from Caroline’s and looked beside her at William.   
“Partially,” she said, “I definitely want to do the Stainer, and the Mozart. What do you think of the new piece we started last week?” Lawrence rolled his eyes at the music-talk but didn’t start complaining until they began talking about the specific dynamics of a certain piece.  
“Miss McKenzie, are you coming to the tournament against Stanford Croft on next week?” Lawrence asked, finally fed up of their boring conversation.  
“Rugby?” Kate asked, “Is it a home game?” Lawrence nodded. “Then I’ll definitely come and cheer you one. Which teams are playing?”   
“First 7s, Second 8s, First 9s and First 12s.” Lawrence explained. Caroline smiled, Kate was making a real effort with Lawrence. She didn’t really have to try with William, Kate had so much in common with him, but Lawrence was going to be a bit harder to win round and it would be much easier for Caroline to tell him about their relationship if he already liked Kate. She’d thought a lot about how she was going to tell Lawrence. He clearly still hoped that she would get back together with John, and was a lot less mature than William; it was going to be a difficult conversation.

After dinner they left the dishes on the side in the kitchen and went back to the Scrabble game. While the players sat on the floor around the board, Caroline was on the sofa making droll comments which kept causing Kate to giggle. Lawrence was struggling a bit so Caroline shifted around to see his board and started whispering suggestions in his ear and correcting his spelling. Once William had triumphantly won Lawrence laid down a challenge on Mario Kart, sure that he could win that. “I’ll just help your mum with the kitchen first,” Kate said, getting up from the floor. “Why don’t you and William play first and we’ll join you once the washing-up is done.” Lawrence grinned, glad that he wasn’t being asked to do the clearing up, then chucked a controller to his brother. As soon as they were alone in the kitchen Kate pulled Caroline’s body as close to hers as possible and kissed her. “I’m having such a wonderful evening,” Caroline said, resting her forehead against Kate’s.   
“I’m glad,” said Kate smiling and stroking Caroline’s cheek fondly, “I am too,” she added. They loaded the dishwasher in an affectionate silence, punctuated by occasional soft caresses and playful kisses. Once they were finished they shared another short moment together. “Just so you know, I am fantastic at Mario Kart.” Kate said proudly, “Eve, Tom and their kids love it.”  
“Let’s see then,” said Caroline, kissing Kate on the nose before they went back into the living room.

Kate was right, she really was good at Mario Kart. She easily beat Caroline who kept forgetting which buttons to press, and William who had worryingly bad coordination in this game; she got very close to beating Lawrence too - he was impressed. “Rainbow road next!” said Lawrence, “Let’s see how you handle that.”   
“That will be the last one though,” Caroline said. “You need to be getting to bed.” She ruffled her younger son’s hair. He groaned but didn’t complain. Caroline shifted again on the sofa so that her leg brushed up against Kate’s. She subtly rubbed her thumb against Kate’s hand, eliciting a smile from her. “Don’t distract me,” mouthed Kate, determined to win the race against Lawrence.

It was very close but Lawrence won, he celebrated victoriously but gave Kate a high-five too. “Good race!” he said. Kate agreed. “Night then,” said Lawrence, picking up the controllers and putting them away in the cabinet.   
“Good night,” the others said back.  
“I think I’ll head up too,” said William, kissing his mum on the top of her head, “Happy Birthday.”  
“Oh, yeah Happy Birthday Mum,” added Lawrence.  
Goodnight Kate,” William said, “It’s been lovely to have you.” Lawrence nodded in agreement and the two of them went upstairs.

As soon as they’d heard the boys’ bedroom doors shut Caroline rolled over on the sofa so that she was leaning over Kate, and kissed her deeply and passionately, tangling her hands in her soft dark hair. Kate moaned quietly into the kiss, pulling Caroline closer to her and repositioning her leg so that she could wrap it around Caroline’s. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt Caroline’s cool, soft hand slide under the hem of her shirt and across her own warm stomach. “Do you think we should take this upstairs?” Kate suggested when she regained the power of speech. Caroline grunted softly in affirmation and kissed Kate again, before climbing off her and then guiding her upstairs.


End file.
